article thumbnail

Cryptocurrency Startup Loses Encryption Key for Electronic Wallet

Schneier on Security

The cryptocurrency fintech startup Prime Trust lost the encryption key to its hardware wallet—and the recovery key—and therefore $38.9 I can’t understand why anyone thinks these technologies are a good idea. It is now in bankruptcy.

article thumbnail

Decarbonizing Cryptocurrencies through Taxation

Schneier on Security

Maintaining bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies causes about 0.3 As many cryptocurrencies crash and the FTX bankruptcy moves into the litigation stage, regulators are likely to scrutinize the cryptocurrency world more than ever before. The good news is that cryptocurrencies don’t have to be carbon intensive.

Insiders

Sign Up for our Newsletter

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

article thumbnail

On the Dangers of Cryptocurrencies and the Uselessness of Blockchain

Schneier on Security

Earlier this month, I and others wrote a letter to Congress, basically saying that cryptocurrencies are an complete and total disaster, and urging them to regulate the space. But that’s nothing inherent in blockchain technology—that’s just a bunch of bad design choices bitcoin made. ” I have yet to see one.

article thumbnail

The GitVenom campaign: cryptocurrency theft using GitHub

SecureList

stealer that collects information such as saved credentials, cryptocurrency wallet data and browsing history, packs it into a.7z com/Dipo17/battle ) and execute them. These components were as follows: A Node.js 7z archive and uploads it to the attackers via Telegram. Notably, the attacker-controlled Bitcoin wallet ( ID: bc1qtxlz2m6r[.]yspzt

article thumbnail

GoDaddy Employees Used in Attacks on Multiple Cryptocurrency Services

Krebs on Security

Fraudsters redirected email and web traffic destined for several cryptocurrency trading platforms over the past week. 13, with an attack on cryptocurrency trading platform liquid.com. The attacks were facilitated by scams targeting employees at GoDaddy , the world’s largest domain name registrar, KrebsOnSecurity has learned.

article thumbnail

Feds Charge Five Men in ‘Scattered Spider’ Roundup

Krebs on Security

technology companies between 2021 and 2023, including LastPass , MailChimp , Okta , T-Mobile and Twilio. According to prosecutors, the group mainly sought to steal cryptocurrency from victim companies and their employees. A visual depiction of the attacks by the SMS phishing group known as Scattered Spider, and Oktapus.

article thumbnail

"Crypto" Is Being Redefined as Cryptocurrencies

Schneier on Security

Bitcoin and other technologies indeed do use cryptography: all cryptocurrency transactions are secured by a "public key" known to all and a "private key" known only to one party­ -- this is the basis for a swath of cryptographic approaches (known as public key, or asymmetric cryptography) like PGP.